Sophomore Year Writing

Multimodal Reflection

For my Multimodal project, I decided to cover the field of Greek life. I did this because with my major being accounting there was not much room for creativity and this assignment was one that I felt I needed to be creative with so that I could do my best. Next to my major, Greek life has affected me the most in my time at Appalachian State so I felt it fit to use it as my topic. By creating three different articles; one on the history of Greek Life, one on the councils and system at ASU, and one detailing my personal experiences within Greek life. In the articles, I mentioned some of the things that students thinking about joining Greek life should know along with tying all of it in to personal experiences and the rush project in the final of the three articles. Fortunately, I did not have to conduct any research on the topic as I made it a personal piece, the only information I could have needed to research would have been the history of Greek life or the councils. However, I all the history concerning Greek life I learned as a new member of my chapter and I work with all three councils of the school constantly as an executive member of my chapter.

My articles satisfy everything I wanted it to because my goal was to give potential new members the knowledge and know how they need to get everything they can out of their Greek experience. By giving a brief explanation of both the history of Greek life along with the way it works at ASU specifically a foundation was formed for them. I built from that with my personal experiences being a PNM and being the head of recruitment for my chapter. I gave all the things that students should know about recruitment and the overall pros and cons of being Greek from an outside standpoint. My goal was not to fix the “pre-recruitment” process it was to make what is already present more efficient. Not by changing the process, but by changing the mindset of those that are using it. The problem with rushing Greek organizations is that before we get to college we don’t really know much about the Greek systems. Suddenly right after we move in we are bombarded with parties and appeals to who has the best grades, who gets the hottest girls to their parties, and which guys are the coolest. The problem is that there is no middle ground, we come to school not knowing what to expect and it all hits at once, I wanted to give a cushion of information so that PNMs know what matters, recognize words, and who to ask.

I did my best to write as if I was an older sibling or friend just helping, telling the younger ones about what I did right and wrong. I felt this was appropriate because while those reading this will likely be younger than me and less experienced, we are both still college students and I don’t know that much more than them in the grand scheme of things. Also, I feel that over a written piece people are more likely to listen to a friend rather than a “teacher” or someone who could be writing in a tone that can be taken as condescending. I demonstrated that my pieces were of value by letting students know that they will be greeted with “rush here” as soon as they move in if not once they announce where they will be attending. In my writing, I could develop enough ethos with the pure fact that I was writing for their good, at this point this article does nothing for me but let me look back at the good old times, for them it makes the next six weeks of their lives that much easier while they are getting settled into school.

Since I wrote this as if I was writing for the Odyssey, an online site for writing from and mainly to millennials. This is where genre plays its biggest role in the articles. With the Odyssey readers can see my profile picture, easily get to my facebook, and also to my twitter. The site is also meant for millennials so it is that much easier relatable. Articles can be shared by friends, family, and others that these students may have connections with making it that much more personal. When this assignment came up this was my first and only thought. I love writing for the site, and it was the perfect platform for the topic I had chosen. While writing I persisted as the stranger who is there to help, or the wise old man that isn’t old or that wise. In other areas of writing I can’t be older or wiser so I took my one chance.

By separating the articles, I made it so that readers knew what they were going to be reading before they started. Young readers won’t continue to read if the title is “What you need to know about Greek life,” and the first two big segments are on the history and councils of Greek life. My arrangement meets the needs of the short attention span of young readers online and their need for it to be given straight forward. Each title was direct and to the point, followed by an attention-grabbing quote that goes with the articles topic, and then right into the writing.

This assignment was a great time for me to look back on how I went about my recruitment and what I am glad I did right and what I wish I had different. At the same time, I found how well placed and applied quotes can make a written piece that much better. If I were to edit the assignment further I would make the two informative articles more personal and interesting. Doing that would make the information applicable easier. This assignment was different from a traditional assignment because instead of the writing style being what my professor thought was best it was what I felt was best which was nice for my content. All of the information contained in the articles if of my own knowing, no sites were used, only my previous knowledge.

Published by

Trevor W.

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